No Rocky Road for FDR Granite

The granite blocks for the Four Freedoms FDR Memorial slated for Southpoint park are so fragile, as much as a 29 ton rock can be fragile, that special arrangements had to be made to ship each of the expected 70 blocks to Roosevelt Island. The blocks start their in North Carolina and required special rigging for their truck drive up to Jersey City before being shipped via barge to Southpoint Park.

The full story of the requirements taken to ensure each blocks integrity can be found here.

NY1: FDR Memorial Takes Shape on Roosevelt Island

NY1 is running a video regarding the ceremonies held at Southpoint park yesterday welcoming the first 25 granite blocks that will make up the Louis Kahn designed park and specificallt the "Room" that will sit at the foot of the new FDR Four Freedoms Park which is being built here on Roosevelt Island.

Link to the video HERE or above.

Visitor Profile: Treehouses to FDR Memorial

Yesterday, the NY Times ran a profile / Q & A with architect Stephen Martin who is working on the FDR Four Freedoms Memorial now under construction at Roosevelt island's SouthPoint Park and how he came to that project. The story was filed under their "Entry Level" series.

Free Concerts ! Free Movies ! Oh My !

Big weekend for free events on Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Live's free concert series continues on Riverwalk Commons at 4pm followed by the RIOC sponsored free movies at Southpoint Park on both Saturday and Sunday nights at 8pm. Very very cool.

Free Outdoor Movies RETURN to Southpoint Park this Weekend

No matter the reason seeing movies at Roosevelt Island's SouthPoint Park is a treat not to be missed. Two chances this weekend.

Forest Gump - 8:05 pm pn Saturday Night
Kung Fu Panda - 8:05 pm on Sunday Night

------Original Message------

From: Erica Wilder
To: Roosevelt Island 360
Sent: Aug 3, 2009 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: Outdoor Movies at Southpoint Park this weekend

Forrest Gump was moved due to its duration and the live band performance prior to the movie. Kung Fu Panda was moved because all other available rain dates for the movie vendor were already booked by a league on Firefighters Field. Southpoint was the only available option. As you may already know, we had to cancel Kung Fu Panda a second time due to thunderstorms.

-----Original Message-----

To: Wilder, Erica
Sent: 8/3/2009 5:07:23 PM
Subject: Re: Outdoor Movies at Southpoint Park this weekend

Why the switch back to Southpoint?

Thanks Eric

-----Original Message-----

From: "Erica Wilder" <EWilder@rioc.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:55:54
To: rooseveltisland360@gmail.com
Subject: Outdoor Movies at Southpoint Park this weekend

Hi Eric,

This weekend, we will be showing movies back to back at Southpoint Park on Saturday and Sunday. Take a look at the flyer for more details. There will be a "Special Red Bus" available for pick up in front of the Chapel near 543 Main Street at 7pm. The bus will be designated for folks who can not make the trip down to the park by foot or for those who would just like to get closer to the gates. After the completion of the movie, transportation will be available outside the main gates of the park. Hope to see you there!

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.

Thanks.

Erica

Erica Wilder
Community Relations Specialist
Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
591 Main Street
Roosevelt Island, NY 10044
Ewilder@rioc.com
http://www.rioc.ny.gov/

Call Boxes to Return to Service Possibly Today

After trading e-mails with a member of the FDNY Communications unit we can expect to see the call boxes return to service possibly as early as today. It appears the issue was a faulty circuit and there is no plan to phase out the boxes that exist today on Roosevelt Island.

As this issue has now been cleared up I will now keep my keyboard quiet regarding this issue. Thank you for indulging me.

For those readers that can appreciate anything that yells vintage old New York check out Call Box 1914 which sits just East of the gate into Southpoint Park as well as Call Box 1913 which sits across from Goldwater Hospital on the grassy divide between the street and the promenade.

Local Architect Determines that Kahn Design for FDR Park Included Two Sculptures

Roosevelt Island resident Marc Diamond, an architect himself, in a letter to the RIOC Board of Directors points out that the original Louis Kahn design for the FDR Four Freedoms Park was to include a second sculpture which in the FERI design has been omitted.

Mr. Diamond in his letter passionately points out the design of the sculpture was not the focus for Kahn but that he did include two. He reasons that RIOC has as much vested in the design of the park [presumably as the prospective party charged with the care and upkeep of the park] as does FERI and if FERI chose to ignore an original facet of the Kahn design then RIOC has the ability to request that it be reinstated with the shape of the [2nd] sculpture to be determined.

Mr. Diamond points to a April 25, 1974 NY Times article where it clearly states that the original design left by Kahn included a second sculpture evidenced further by the graphics presented in the article and represented with this blog post.

Interesting stuff.

Sign My Petition: Modify the FDR Four Freedoms Memorial Park Design To Recognize FDR's Legacy as a Disabled American

I have created an online petition on line which states the following text regarding the ongoing call to modify or add to the Louis Kahn design of the FDR Four Freedoms Memorial Park, planned for Roosevelt Island, to recognize FDR's legacy as a disabled American:

To: FERI, RIOC, All Federal, State and Local Govt Officials

We, the undersigned, believe that the FDR Four Freedoms Memorial Park, as currently designed by Louis Kahn, and planned for Southpoint Park on Roosevelt Island within New York City should be modified to include a depiction of FDR in some form recognizing his disability.

(1) By recognizing FDR's disability it would further strengthen FDR as a role model to all those with disabilities and again prove that being being differently abled is not a bar and individuals can transcend any impediment placed before them.

(2) By recognizing FDR's disability it would further tie the Memorial to the unique history of Roosevelt Island (formerly known as Blackwell's Island and later Welfare Island) as a home to hospitals and instititions dedicated to the health and well being of individuals who are differently abled.

(3) By recognizing FDR's disability it would additional tie the Memorial to Roosevelt Island recognizing that as a planned community reborn a core component of its rebirth was to enable its disabled citizens to live and function at a level not reached in other communities.

For these reasons and others, we, the undersigned, call upon the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation, and each of the elected officials representing Roosevelt Island to modify the park's current design to include a depiction in some form of FDR as a disabled American as that fact is as much a part of his legacy as is the Four Freedoms that he brought to this nation.

Sincerely,

The Petition can be found HERE.

Initial Reactions to the MP3 Event

Experiencing an Improv Everywhere event can vary depending on your knowledge of what is going on and what is yet to come. That fact certainly affected my and my family views when we settled down on the Riverwalk Commons lawn this past Saturday to watch MP3 Experiment 6. My wife and I had watched a number of videos from past “scenes” including past MP3 events. My young children had not. I purposely did not participate so I can experience the events with no preconceptions as best I could.

Seeing approximately 2000 plus individuals spread out from Blackwell House down to 425 Main Street in various primary colors was amusing. My kids commented that Red must be winning as they saw more red shirts that anything else. When the event started our kids were very amused. Not scared in any way thankfully. Although during the high five sequence one young woman did chase my 7 year old a bit and he was a bit confused but he had fun with it.

A young participant blogger, named Megan, wrote online today the following which I found most intuitive as most Improv Everywhere events seem to go for reactions of the locals. Here the locals were out numbered by almost 50 to 1 for the areas overwhelmed by “agents”:

“Since we were the overwhelming majority on the island on Saturday (participants were dressed in red, blue, green or yellow t-shirts with white undershirts), it didn't feel like we were putting on much of a show for the few bystanders around us. The few who were on the island and not participating got a lot of attention though, as there weren't enough of them to go around when we were instructed to "give a high five to a stranger" or "follow someone's every move who is not participating". In this respect I was a little disappointed with the overall dynamic of the event, because way back in 2006 when I watched the report on .mp3 experiment III there were far fewer participants than there were bystanders in Central Park, so the effect of having a "slightly too large a group acting together to be normal" as being surprising, suspicious or unnerving to more bystanders was significantly diminished. Though I imagine that to the handful of bystanders on Roosevelt Island an army of 2000 primary-colored people marching in silence across the island was pretty intense, this event felt very much like we were doing it for ourselves, rather than performing for the enjoyment of others.”

The pictures on Flickr (1,2,3,4) linked from the Improv Everywhere site are great.

A few comments I have seen and received. The Tram staff was almost overwhelmed as they were the sole direct exit to Manhattan from the Island. As the event started at 4:00 pm it hit during a Goldwater shift change and a few residents thought a greater PSD presence was needed for traffic direction purposes. I can’t comment as I never ventured South of the Riverwalk Commons.

I wonder what the 2000 plus visitors thought of Southpoint park and what their reactions would be to the FERI approved Louis Kahn design as the 360 degree views these folks enjoyed on Saturday would be quite different if the expected trees were in place. Since island residents overall are not a concern to FERI and the architects I wonder what these unbiased visitors would think. Too bad I could not conduct a snap poll but my kids wanted dinner.

Note: Link through the photos to the photographers Flickr page for that photo.

Dragonfly Bionic Vegetable Tower at 600 Meters

Nicolas, a resident of Roosevelt Island sent me to a story link regarding a “Bionic Tower” envisioned to be built at Southpoint Park. The Tower, designed, by Vincent Callebaut, is actually titled “Dragonfly” and is described as a “metabolic farm for urban agriculture”. According to the official website the top floor would stand at 575 meters with the roof at 600 meters and its antenna at 700meters.

Link to Vincent Callebaut official Dragonfly website.

Below text per World Architecture News via PSFK.com:

The unique 128 floor, 700m concept design is spread over two oblong towers and suggests building a prototype of an urban farm in which a mixed programme of housing, offices, laboratories and farming spaces are vertically laid out over several floors and cultivated by its inhabitants. The architecture of the design proposes reinventing the vertical building, so associated with the New York skyline of the 19th and 20th centuries, both structurally and functionally as well as ecologically.

The functional organisation of the design is arranged around two 600m towers, symmetrically arranged around a huge climactic greenhouse that links them, and constructed of glass and steel. This greenhouse, which defines the shape of the design, supports the load of the building and is directly inspired by the structural exoskeleton of dragonfly wings. Two inhabited rings buttress around the ‘wings,’ and along the exterior of these are solar panels, which will provide up to half the buildings electricity, with the rest being supplied by three wind machines along the vertical axes of the building.

Henry Hudson Festivities Cancel July 4th RIOC Event

As discussed in Roosevelt Island Operation Corporation President Steve Shane's column in the Main Street WIRE there will be no July 4th Fireworks Viewing from Southpoint this year. I was curious if a smaller event would still be thrown at the site and I received the following email:

------Original Message------
From: Erica Wilder
To: Roosevelt Island 360
Cc: Donna Masly
Sent: May 4, 2009 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: July 4th

Eric,

As a result of the barges being moved to the Hudson as part of the Henry Hudson Quad-Centennial celebration, there will not be any other festivities occurring at Southpoint Park on July 4th. However, other ideas have been thrown our way for potential events at Southpoint Park after July 4th.

Erica

Erica Wilder
Community Relations Specialist
Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation
http://www.rioc.ny.gov/

------Original Message------
To: Erica Wilder
From: Roosevelt Island 360
Cc: Donna Masly
Sent: May 4, 2009 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: July 4th

Good afternoon,

In light of the City's movement of the Macys Fireworks to the Hudson River will there be any RIOC sponsored festivities at Southpoint Park this year for the holiday or is the entire event cancelled as a result?

Thanks,

Eric

FERI wants Stimulus Money to Build FDR Park

Updated: 2:51pm for addition of City Council Member Lappin's Response

As reported on Crain New York Business.com the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt institute is applying for $25 million in Federal stimulus monies to supplement the funds they themselves could not raise in 30 plus years for the planned Four Freedoms Park to be built on Roosevelt Island. While the creation of the park will create jobs in the short term I still don't believe this is the best use of public monies at this time.

Per Crains:

"The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute wants roughly $25 million to create a park on Roosevelt Island that was designed years ago by legendary architect Louis Kahn to honor the 32nd president.

“We can begin construction in June, provide 300 jobs and be an incredible tourist attraction for New York,” says former diplomat William vanden Heuvel, who founded the institute.

Mr. vanden Heuvel has dispatched detailed applications to Gov. David Paterson, Sen. Charles Schumer and other power brokers, but he has no idea when to expect an answer. "

Other than City Council Member Jessica Lappin's (D - 5th District) comments below no word yet from our other elected officials as to whether they support this request by FERI.

If any monies are allocated to the Park out of the stimulus funds it would be shocking if they were to receive all $25M they are asking for. As such if these monies are so allocated it should be stipulated that the public areas of the park and not the memorial site and "room" be built first for fear that the FERI folks will never raise the entire $40M plus they project the Parks creation will require.

City Council Member Jessica Lappin's comments re FERI's request (courtesy of the council member's Press Secretary, John Moore):

“I do support the use of federal stimulus money to support this project. In the short term, the construction of the park will directly create 200 construction jobs over the 30 months that it will take to complete the project. In the longer term, the completion of this project will make Roosevelt Island a destination for tourists and others who wish to visit the only memorial to Franklin Roosevelt in his home state. With the design of the park completed, this is a “shovel-ready” project that will have both short and long term benefits for the Island and for our city.”

Letter to Editor re FDR Memorial

Matt Kats, our former Roosevelt islasnd Residents Association President, submitted a letter to the New York Times and the below image is the letter printed from this weekend's City Section (double click to enlarge):

Public Projects Need a Strong Transportation Infrastructure

On Friday, the New York Times published an article about the ongoing effort to bring a memorial to Roosevelt Island for FDR in the form of a public park. I was quoted for two points (1) that the Louis Kahn design which calls for trees on both sides of the park will block the 360 degree views of Manhattan and Queens and (2) that the island would be inundated by visitors. This second point is what I want to address here as I did in my discussion with Mr. Beyer, the Times Reporter, as my point had a bit more to it than what was published.

Yes I am concerned about how many visitors might come to the island. I hope a lot of visitors come to the island and all stop by the local RIHS Visitors Center, the local Strabucks, Duane Reade and Nonnos as well as hopefully further North on Main Street. My concern is not whether the island can handle the increased visitors but more specifically whether our transportation infrstructure can.

In the coming year the Roosevelt Island Tram is scheduled to be taken off line for several months, some expect a year, to be basically reconstruct the entire Tramway system, from new cables, new cabins, new mechanical systems, everything. The question will be whether this new Tram and the existing subway service will be able to handle not only the increase in tourists but the continued residential expansion of the island.

Can NYC and NYS Justify $8M for FDR Park?

This weekend when I read RIOC President Steve Shane's column, in the Main Street WIRE, and was reminded that NYC and NYS have jointly committed $8 million in total to the planned FDR Four Freedoms Park to be built at Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park I could only cry. How in this economy could this make sense? I don't see how either legislative body could allow such appropriations to continue? How can the constituents of any legislator supporting these appropriations not let them know this is wrong? Yet each of our local legislators supports this plan and no one thinks its improper in today's world.

Think how many job training programs this money could fund? How many New Yorkers could be kept in their homes? How many meals can be provided to out of work City residents? Would you close a city shelter to justify a park?

Are these statements alarmist? Perhaps not. Both Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson are predicting the worse is yet to come. Each has already called for massive cuts in existing and prospective budgets. So I ask each of you now how can we keep in the City's and State's budget $8 milion dollars for a park even if the intent is to honor as great a president like FDR? The answer is we can't and we should not.

---------

PS: The $8M is only for Phase 1 of the park's construction and is dependent on FERI matching the $8M. The projected costs for the complete memorial is in excess of $40M and you can bet if the park is started and FERI can not raise the additional funds they will be looking to the City and State to bail them out and to pony up additional funds.

15 Years Plus of Lighted Ruins

The night time lighting of the former smallpox hospital, on Roosevelt Island, started as a party favor from Arnold Scaasi, a Sutton Place resident, to his guests. It was then later picked up as a treat from an island based group to the larger city as a reminder that "we're part of the City".

Today the lights that shine upon the Renwick Ruin are a nightly fixture, with the cost borne by RIOC, and while the lights may be taken for granted by most of the City, they have become a fixture of the City's night time sky and still to this day a nice reminder that we are here.

Picture via Flickr by Mortbats.

50 Cent "The Money and The Power" Filmed at Southpoint Park

In the premier episode of the new 50 Cent reality show "The Money and The Power" the opening scenes all took place at Roosevelt Island's Southpoint Park. No way this would have the same effect at an FDR Memorial Park. Looking like the man in charge 50 Cent started his show off letting his potential protege's know what he expected.

The episode titled "Choose your Crew Wisely" involved two teams being chosen and as their first task being chained together "chain gang" style and racing from Southpoint to a location in Brooklyn. How did most residents miss this as the two "crews" had to either run right up Main Street or else they ran on the Promanade facing Queens. The video episode cuts from Southpoint to the "crews" on the RI Bridge so itis unclear which way they went. I am assuming PSD and RIOC know for sure. Very amusing. Now we know what Southpoint was rented out for a few weeks back.

SkyWheel Residential "Tower" For Southpoint Park

Future Roosevelt Island residents may look at the Tram as archaic if they could take up residence in the Mut-Architecture conceptualy designed SkyWheel residential tower for Southpoint. For the original article go to Frame Magazine.

As planned the tower would almost be a city unto itself. It took me a while when I moved onto the island to get used to the Tram. I woud not move into this even if it was ever built.

Images: Southpoint Park from Queens West

The above image is by SOMAC from Flickr and features a view of the Roosevelt Island not always seen and I am guessing was taken from one of the residential buildings in Long Island City's Queens West development based on the angle.

The structures visible starting from the lower left include the Smallpox Hospital, Strecker Labs, and Goldwater Hospital. According to the Flickr post the shot was taken on September 24, 2008.

NYT City Room Blog Post re FDR Memorial

Sewell Chan of the New York Times City Room blog has posted an article today regarding the recent movement of the Louis Kahn designed FDR Memorial.

The article makes no mention as to how the design (30 years old +) is regarded by the local community. It makes no mention of what the space has become to the local community and what will be lost.

If you like or dislike the design here is a very public forum to leave your comments. Please do so.